According to an account in the politics website City & State, Rep. Steve Israel (D-L.I.), chairman of the DCCC -- which has been relentlessly hammering Grimm -- had to leave an AFL-CIO breakfast for the New York state congressional delegation early but said nothing should be read into it, quipping, "No one here should worry," in reference to the DCCC targeting several Republican incumbents at the breakfast.

Grimm sat "stone-faced," according to City & State, prompting Israel to say, "You're not laughing, Grimm."

Grimm (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) responded by picking up a butter knife from a dining room table, saying, "I'm not laughing."

"The difference between you and my Democratic colleagues is that you actually show the knife," Israel told Grimm, a former FBI undercover agent and decorated Marine veteran, according to City & State.

Grimm's office has confirmed the cutlery caper.

Meanwhile, the campaign of Grimm's Democratic challenger, Mark Murphy, released this statement in response: "Seems like Congressman Grimm is into slashing these days. Slashing Social Security and Medicare, slashing taxes for the wealthiest Americans and slashing regulations for corporations (that) are shipping our jobs overseas. The only things Congressman Grimm can't seem to slash are the FBI inquiries into his fund-raising and his legal defense costs."